The Mysterious Stranger
by katie5000
Summary: After so much time being gone, Jiro finally comes back home to Mitsuko. But a new conflict soon ensues involving Jiro, a newly resurrected DARK, and the exchange student staying at Mitsuko's house. CHAPTER 3 UP!
1. Chapter 1

The Mysterious Stranger  
  
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It was the middle of March. Kate, the exchange student, was sitting in the parlor on the sofa, reading an issue of Entertainment Weekly she'd picked up the other day at the university newsstand. Not that she particularly liked the magazine or anything, it was just that it had been the only thing on the newsstand that reminded her of home.  
  
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the front door. Kate could hear it distantly through the wall of the parlor, and she paused. A few minutes later, it sounded again. Kate sighed and got up, heading out of the parlor and down the hallway that led to the front door. Technically it wasn't her house, but it seemed as though no one else had heard the knock at the door. There was no one around.  
  
Well, it gives me a chance to practice my Japanese, Kate thought as she reached for the door handle. She opened the door, and was immediately caught off guard by the young man on the other side. He was about her height, with black hair that swooped in an uncontrollable wave back from his forehead. His body was slender, and he wore a denim jacket that had large yellow buttons down the front of it. He also wore an incredibly large pair of goggles in his hair, for some reason.   
  
Kate realized she was gaping, and quickly closed her mouth. The handsome stranger bowed slightly in greeting and spoke to her in Japanese. "Hi, is Mitsuko home?"  
  
"Uh, um, uh," Kate stammered. "Well, she's upstairs...Oh, I mean," she changed from English to somewhat broken Japanese. "Yes, she's in her room. I'll go get her." Kate's face was red.  
  
"It's okay," the stranger replied, in perfect English. "I can wait." He smiled at her.   
  
Kate was caught off guard again. My God, who is this guy? she thought to herself. She moved to open the door further. "Why don't you come in?" she offered. The handsome stranger stepped inside and Kate shut the door. "Wait right here."  
  
Kate hurried up the stairs and down the hall to Mitsuko's room. Her bedroom door was partially open, and she was laying on her bed, leafing through a book. Kate stepped in. Mitsuko looked up. "Oh, Kate. What is it?"  
  
"There's someone at the door to see you," Kate answered.  
  
"Who?" she responded.  
  
"I'm not sure. I forgot to ask," Kate replied, slightly embarassed. "But he sure seems like he knows you."  
  
Mitsuko got up off her bed and headed for the stairs. However, halfway down the stairs, she stopped short. From the middle landing, Mitsuko could see the stanger standing just inside the front door. He turned and looked up at her. She proceeded down the rest of the stairs slowly, as if in a trance.  
  
She could not believe her eyes. He'd kept his promise. After all this time, he was finally home. "You're alive...." she gasped. And then she ran to him, and jumped into his arms.  
  
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	2. Chapter 2

More story!  
  
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"Oh, Mitsuko..." the stranger whispered to her.  
  
Mitsuko looked up into his face, her eyes damp with tears. "Jiro..." she whispered back. They held each other tight for many minutes.  
  
Kate stood on the stairs watching the reunion between the two. She'd stopped trying to figure out what was going on a while ago, as things were getting too spontaneous and confusing for her. Suddenly, Mitsuko turned to her. "Kate, go upstairs and get my brother," she ordered. Kate nodded, turning and heading back up the stairs.  
  
Okay, now I *really* want to know who this guy is, Kate thought as she headed down the upstairs hallway to Masaru's room. She knocked on his door, and entered. "Kate," he said upon seeing her.  
  
"Your sister sent me to get you. Apparently, there's someone here she wants you to meet," Kate explained.  
  
"That's weird. Nobody ever usually comes out to see her," Masaru replied, sounding very much like a bratty younger brother. Kate sighed.  
  
This was the first time Masaru had used English in Kate's presence. It caught her somewhat off guard, as she thought that the reason he'd never used it was because he didn't know how to speak it. "Well, come on," Kate said, and led him out of his room and down the hall.   
  
"Who's the visitor?" Masaru asked, curious.  
  
"I dunno," Kate shrugged. "I think it's one of your sister's old boyfriends or something." Judging by the way she greeted him...Kate thought.  
  
Mitsuko and her visitor were waiting in the parlor when Kate brought her brother in. To Kate's surprise, Masaru's entire face lit up upon seeing who the visitor was. "JIRO!" he cried, and he ran across the room and jumped into the stranger's lap.  
  
Kate took a seat in a nearby armchair, bewilderment written all over her face. Mitsuko noticed, and giggled.   
  
"What's going on here....?" Kate began to ask.  
  
"Silly me," Mitsuko responded. "I forgot to introduce you. Kate, this is Jiro." She gestured at the young man sitting across from Kate, on the couch. Kate smiled politely, and blushed. So, the man at the door had a name....  
  
"Jiro, this is Kate, the exchange student who's been living with us these past months." Mitsuko gestured at Kate.   
  
"Hello," Jiro said, and smiled.  
  
"Hello," Kate replied. There was silence.  
  
"So, what brings you here to Japan, Kate?" Mitsuko prompted, as a conversation starter.  
  
"Oh, I'm studying over at the University," Kate replied. "I want to minor in the Japanese language, and decided to live here for a year so that I could gain a good mastery of it."  
  
Jiro smiled. "You're doing very well," he complemented.  
  
"Thank you." Kate blushed, and looked down at her lap.  
  
Just then, the phone rang. Mitsuko excused herself and went to go answer it.  
  
This girl, this "exchange student" as Mitsuko had called her, fascinated Jiro. He'd never seen anyone like her before. She was human, he could sense that. But she looked so different from the others. Her skin was pale, almost like porcelain, and her hair was the color of gold. Her eyes were rounder and somehow seemed larger than Mitsuko's eyes, and were a brilliant shade of blue. Even the way she talked was different. Jiro's programming told him that this girl was speaking English, but her voice somehow seemed....well, the only word he could think of was flat. Jiro was puzzled. Weren't english speakers supposed to have an accent?   
  
Kate had noticed his stare, and it was making her uncomfortable. She shifted in her chair. It wasn't that she was unaccustomed to drawing stares from people; she'd gotten quite used to that during the nine months she'd been living in Japan. However, no one had ever stared at her as intensely as this man was doing now. She wondered what he was thinking of her, and how long it would be before Mitsuko came back.  
  
Just then Masaru, who had wrapped his arms around the stranger's neck, murmured, "I'm so glad you're finally home." The stranger glanced down at the kid, then over at Kate, whose brow had furrowed again.   
  
Masaru's statement had taken Kate by surprise. Mitsuko hadn't mentioned anything about this...as a matter of fact, Kate realized, she'd never even mentioned this man at all.   
  
"You live here?" Kate asked, curious to discover his claim to the family. Instead of answering her directly, however, the stranger answered back with a question of his own.  
  
"Where do you come from?" Jiro asked.  
  
"Huh? Oh..." Kate hesitated momentarily before responding, "California."  
  
"Isn't that in the United States of America?"   
  
"Yes, it is." Kate blushed. She was impressed with Jiro's knowledge. Jiro understood now why her voice had seemed flat. His linguistics programming told him that Americans didn't speak english with an accent.  
  
Just then, Mitsuko came back into the room. She was beaming. "Mr. Hattori says he can be here in a half-hour," she said. "You do remember him, don't you, Jiro?"   
  
"Yes, I do," Jiro responded thoughtfully. "He's the man who helped you find me, when I was lost."   
  
"Right," Mitsuko responded with a smile and sat down next to Jiro on the loveseat. She slipped an arm around his waist.   
  
With Masaru in Jiro's lap and Mitsuko by his side, the three almost looked like they could be a small family of their own. Kate thought they looked sweet, and she smiled. Whoever this Jiro was, he must have been a very important person who had been sorely missed by Mitsuko and her brother. Truth was, Kate didn't know the half of it. But she was about to find out.  
  
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A/N: I hope my credibility as a writer isn't wrecked...I know I haven't updated in a while, but I started college and have had tons of work to do the last 2 months. Updating will probably be slow on this baby due to school. But anyway....catch ya later. 


	3. Chapter 3

More story three.  
  
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There was something definitely odd about Jiro. Kate couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but she knew that something was up. It was the little things that he did; or rather, the little things he didn't do, like eat when he came to dinner. By Kate's calculations, he hadn't eaten for almost two weeks straight. And his behavior....it almost seemed like he had something that he was trying to hide, that he didn't want the others knowing.  
  
Only problem was, Kate was sure that the others did know. She was certain she was the only one in the dark, and this frustrated her. Kate had been living with the Komyoji family for over nine months now, and there was nothing they hadn't shared with her. She just didn't understand why they wouldn't tell her more about this man. After all, they kept insisting that he was a member of their family.....  
  
Kate watched as Jiro dried the last glass, put it up, and left the kitchen. When she was certain he'd be off elsewhere, she left the kitchen herself. Kate ran into Mitsuko in the foyer, coming down the stairs. "Oh, hello, Kate," she greeted. "What are you up to?"  
  
"Oh, I just thought I'd go for a walk," Kate replied, pulling on the shoes she'd left by the door earlier.  
  
"Don't you think it's getting a little late?" Mitsuko asked, glancing out the window by the front door. The evening sky was quickly fading to black.  
  
"Oh, I won't go far," Kate replied, and smiled. She opened the front door. "See you in a little while," she said and stepped out.  
  
Truth be told, it was getting more than just a little late. But Kate wanted to get out of the house so she could do some thinking without being bothered. She decided to take a walk down the dirt lane that linked the house to the mountain pass.   
  
Just who exactly was this Jiro guy, anyway? Kate wondered as she walked. He'd shown up but two weeks ago. Where he had been and what he'd been doing before that were a mystery. Perhaps he was an ex-convict, on the run from the cops, Kate thought. But that couldn't be, or else Mitsuko wouldn't have invited that detective over for cake the day Jiro had arrived. She more than anyone seemed to know what he was about.  
  
Kate was walking past the lake now. The moon was full that night, and the water caught its reflection. It looked stunning. Kate stopped momentarily to take it in, and to rest a bit--she hadn't realized she'd been walking so hard. She stood and looked out over the lake, and stuck her hands in her pockets.  
  
The air was just cold enough to allow Kate to see her breath. She sighed. Everything had been fine right up until that stranger had shown up. Now she didn't know where she fit in anymore. That was the truth of the matter.   
  
Just then, the leaves of the bushes behind her rustled. Kate thought this was odd, as it was a windless night. She glanced over her shoulder, expecting perhaps to see a squirrel or bird. What she saw, however, took her completely by surprise.  
  
A girl was emerging from the bushes. She was slender, and she wore a black mini-dress that was accented with a magenta denim jacket. Her green hair fell to her waist. Her eyes looked wild, and her irises were glowing red.  
  
Kate took a step back, terrified. An evil smile had spread across the other girl's face. "So pleased to meet you," she sneered. Kate took another step back, and tripped. She fell hard, and was winded. "Who...are...you?" Kate wheezed.  
  
"None of your business," the girl replied. "Besides, it matters not, since I will destroy you now." She brought her hand up, made a fist, and held it out in front of her. It began to glow blue. Kate started to scream.....  
  
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Mitsuko had just returned to the parlor with a bottle of coke, to continue playing cards with Jiro. She was teaching him how to play rummy, among other things. Rummy was sort of a complicated game, but Jiro seemed to be catching on to it fast. He'd already beaten her twice. Mitsuko was impressed.  
  
Suddenly, Jiro grimaced. He dropped his cards and pitched over, hands clutching his head. "Jiro! What's wrong?" Mitsuko asked, alarmed. She dropped her cards and immediately rushed to his side. "What is it?" she breathed.  
  
"I....don't know," he grunted, grimacing. "But--" Jiro broke off. "What?" Mitsuko pressed, placing a hand on his arm and leaning over him. She was trying to see his face.  
  
Suddenly, Jiro sat bolt upright. The sheer force of his movement flung Mitsuko backward to land in front of the hearth behind her. "Jiro!" she exclaimed.  
  
"It's Kate!" he cried, his voice strained and laden with urgency. "I think she's in danger!" Jiro jumped up and ran to the parlor door, flinging it open. Without another word, he bolted out of the parlor and down the hall to the foyer. Mitsuko ran after him, grabbing her coat as she ran out the front door behind him.  
  
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Kate had thrown her arms up over her head, bracing for the inevitable blow from the girl's fist. But it never came. Slowly, Kate lowered her arms and looked up, to see what was going on. To her surprise Jiro was standing over her. He had shielded her from the blow, but how? If that blow was meant to kill, then why wasn't he struck dead?  
  
Mitsuko had come up to stand behind Kate, who was sitting on the ground. "Are you all right?" she asked breathlessly. Mitsuko had run the whole way.   
  
Mitsuko's question went unanswered, for Kate was too busy watching events unfold in front of her. Jiro stood in a defensive stance, arms raised in front of him. They still crackled a little with the electricity that they'd absorbed from the girl's blow. His face was set with a cold expression.   
  
The girl took a step back, upon seeing that her blow had no effect on Jiro. She scowled. "They warned me about you," she hissed, realizing his true identity. Jiro slowly lowered his arms and leveled his gaze at her. "What do you want with Kate?" he demanded.  
  
"Is that her name?" the girl spat, glancing in Kate's direction. Kate shrank back slightly. The girl turned her gaze back to Jiro. "She was merely in the way of my getting to you," the girl replied coldly.  
  
Jiro's eyes widened. It was him she'd wanted."You would Kill her so that you could get to me?"  
  
"I would kill all of them to get to you."  
  
"But why?"  
  
"I don't want any of them interfering in your destruction."  
  
So that was it. The girl wanted to destroy him. Jiro was shocked. Nobody had wanted to destroy him since he'd wiped out Professor Gill's base and DARK with it.   
  
"...no. I won't let you harm them," Jiro stated.   
  
"Why? They're worthless."  
  
"No one's worthless to me." Reluctantly Jiro raised both his arms and crossed them over his chest, pounding the switches hidden in his shoulders. "Switch on--NOW!" he cried.  
  
In a blaze of light and color, Jiro transformed before Kate's eyes. His clothing and skin peeled away to reveal the circuitry that made up his inner workings. From the ground up, he was soon covered with a new layer of skin, half of it red and half of it blue. However, some circuitry could still be seen through the clear accents on the red side of his body.  
  
Kate sat on the ground gaping in shock and disbelief. Jiro was a robot!  
  
Jiro now stood facing his enemy as Kikaider, his alter-ego. The girl growled and crouched into a defensive stance. She too transformed, into a silver robot with yellow lightning bolts all over her body. Some of her circuitry could also be seen, through the clear dome that made up the top half of her head. Transformed, the girl looked very much like a female version of Hakaider.  
  
"So, you won't go down without a fight!" the girl cried. She balled up her fist and lunged for Kikaider, intent on striking him. He lunged for her as well; the girl swung her fist but Kikaider took her by surprise and ducked it. He brought his own fist up to punch her in the abdomen. The force of his punch sent the girl flying back several feet, to crash into a tree.  
  
Kikaider crossed his wrists, sparking them to life and causing them to glow blue with electricity. He rushed toward the girl, intent on ending this fight with his 'electro end'. The girl managed to pull herself to her feet, and she jumped right as he reached her. However, she wasn't fast enough to clear him, and he clipped her leg.  
  
The girl hit the ground hard, facedown. She had reverted back into human form, and her left leg was missing. The spot where it had been crackled and sparked with electricity.   
  
Kikaider turned to face his fallen rival, eyes blazing. He began to walk over to her. The girl twisted around so that she was lying on her back, looking up at him. He stopped in front of her, his hard gaze boring into her. The girl looked away. "You are as good as they say," she muttered contemptibly. "Finish me off then!"  
  
The girl waited. Kikaider stood in silence. "No," he finally said. The girl scowled. His response displeased her. "Why do you let me live?" she asked.  
  
"Because I want to know why you want to destroy me," he responded.   
  
There was silence. Then the girl spoke. "Your destruction is merely part of the task left to me by my leader. My organization wants to dominate the world and you stand in their way."  
  
"Your organization?"  
  
"Yes--DARK." Jiro's jaw dropped upon hearing those words. Across the way, Mitsuko gasped. This girl worked for DARK??  
  
"But that's impossible," Jiro gasped, when he'd found his voice. "I destroyed DARK! Professor Gill is dead!"  
  
"Or so you think!" the girl shot back, from where she sat. "Professor Gill lives on through his final command to those who survive him." The girl grimaced, and her leg sparked. She shifted and brought her hand to her waist. For the first time, Kate noticed the belt the girl was wearing. The buckle was round, with a chrome edge, and it was filled in with red enamel. In the middle of the buckle was a small white button.  
  
The girl rested a fingertip upon the button. "Until we meet again, Kikaider," she quipped. Then she pushed the small white button and disappeared in a dome of flickering blue light. She had teleported away.  
  
Kikaider turned toward Mitsuko and Kate. He could see the shock written all over their faces.  
  
Mitsuko stepped out from behind Kate and ran over to Kikaider. "Oh, Jiro! Are you all right?" she gasped, pressing her hands to his chest and looking up into his face. He looked down at her and gave a gentle nod.   
  
Then he walked over to Kate. Kate looked up at him with wide eyes--eyes that conveyed shock and a little bit of fear. Kikaider could see that Kate was trembling, and he gently offered her his hand. "Let's go home," he said.  
  
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